Abigail Whitehurst is an entertainment professional and writer for Hollywood Insider based in Los Angeles, CA. Having lived all over the world as part of a military family and having pursued a bachelors of music, she brings a unique outlook to the entertainment industry. A life-long learner and researcher, Abigail is pursuing her masters in entertainment management. She strives to write through the lenses of context, analysis, and Hollywood Insider’s values to bring a fresh perspective to industry trends, entertainment business, and new film and TV releases. Her favorite place is a movie theater, and she’s always hunting for the deeper meaning and studying media as it pertains to culture. Film, TV, and interactive media are some of the most impactful artforms of our day, and they are worth digging into and analyzing. Everything is connected, whether it’s through Bacon numbers or history. When she’s not writing or at the movies, you can find Abbie crocheting or playing video games with her partner.
Oct 20, 2024
Table of Contents
I need to come clean: I’m not the biggest fan of romance movies. Shocker, I know, given I’ve managed to write about anything but. But, there was something about ‘We Live in Time’ that drew me to the theater. This touching romance drama follows the lives of Almut (Florence Pugh) and Tobias (Andrew Garfield) as their futures intertwine after she runs him over and sends him to the hospital. Though a wild meet-cute, ‘We Live in Time’ settles into a familiarity that we all want in our own lives. It was refreshing to see a romance film outside of the context of someone forcing me to watch it while I was trying to get over something or someone, and what a movie to break that cycle with. I left the film in tears, sad but impressed at how A24 decided to produce this film. The manner of storytelling has garnered some mixed reactions, but the leads craft their roles with love and connection that is lovely to watch.
Pugh and Garfield hit it out of the park with their performances in ‘We Live in Time’. Their connection throughout every era of their characters’ lives is tangible and beautiful, through all of their ups and downs and fights and tender moments. No forced moments, no artificial nonsense. It felt very real, very pure. Garfield, who I daresay most viewers associate with ‘The Amazing Spiderman’ iteration of the Marvel hero, has incredible range as a dramatic actor as evidenced by his more recent work. This performance in particular demonstrates great depth that I’m not sure I was expecting when I walked into the theater. Other performances sparkle in their moments, including that of Grace Delaney who plays the kid Ella, Lee Braithwaite as Almut’s sous chef Jade, and an extremely short but wonderful comedic counterbalance by Kerry Godliman as Jane the petrol station attendant.
Pugh is the real force to be reckoned with, really showing off her acting chops. It’s refreshing to see after two high profile but relatively flat roles for her in ‘Oppenheimer’ and ‘Dune: Part Two’, two brilliant films but not necessarily places for her characters to show much dynamism. Watching her balance love, defeat, hope, pain, and the subtlest comedic timing is amazing. It can be easy to interpret ambition as the villain of this film, but Pugh delivers a particular scene that resolves that worry among the career-driven women in the audience (you’ll recognize it when you see it) with such passion that anything beyond the relationship between Almut and Tobias melts away. We have to make the most of the time we have. That’s all that matters, and between the leads is where this message really lies.
Non-linear storytelling can be an extremely divisive feature of a film, often alienating audiences at large and disrupting the experience of going to see a movie. Frankly, it can get annoying with some films. A24 and by extension ‘We Live in Time’ are going to do whatever they want to do, regardless of precedent in the industry, but they managed to pull off this method of storytelling with ease and fluidity. No cut or jump was random; the flashbacks felt like revisited memories, and the flash-forwards felt like imagined possibilities that happened to have come true. Even as I was watching, I was amazed with how light the mental load was of following Almut and Tobias through their story. There are pretty clear character markers that tell viewers at what point in their lives each vignette comes from, and the progression feels natural despite not being strictly chronological. It can be said a film is written three times: the first when pen meets paper, the second when cameras roll, and the third on the cutting room floor. Editor Justine Wright does an immense, powerful, beautiful job with her version of events as they appear on screen, and it’s apparent that the creative team behind this film was in lockstep the whole way through with a vision clear as day.
Not a single frame is wasted in ‘We Live in Time’. There’s no redundancy, no fluff, no over-explaining. It’s amazing how concise the script is, especially given all of the above. Writer Nick Payne and director John Crowley give audiences just enough to fill in the blanks, without skimping on the detail and emotion. “Show, don’t tell” is a guiding light for so many writers and creatives, and that concept is mastered in so many ways here on screen. Truly, aspiring film editors should think about why this works, and consider this approach to trust one’s audience. Again, it’s a little crazy how natural it feels watching this story unfold, like flicking through memories and dreams in one’s head. Even though the chronology is splintered, the natural ebbs and flows of emotion are still in the right places to keep viewers engaged and invested. We never see the big question get resolved, and yet, the ending satisfies our curiosity and leaves us, honestly, in shambles. There are so many little triumphs of cinema in just 104 minutes, it’s 100% worth a watch… even if you don’t think you like romances.
Click here to read The Hollywood Insider’s CEO Pritan Ambroase’s love letter to Cinema, TV and Media. An excerpt from the love letter: The Hollywood Insider’s CEO/editor-in-chief Pritan Ambroase affirms, “We have the space and time for all your stories, no matter who/what/where you are. Media/Cinema/TV have a responsibility to better the world and The Hollywood Insider will continue to do so. Talent, diversity and authenticity matter in Cinema/TV, media and storytelling. In fact, I reckon that we should announce “talent-diversity-authenticity-storytelling-Cinema-Oscars-Academy-Awards” as synonyms of each other. We show respect to talent and stories regardless of their skin color, race, gender, sexuality, religion, nationality, etc., thus allowing authenticity into this system just by something as simple as accepting and showing respect to the human species’ factual diversity. We become greater just by respecting and appreciating talent in all its shapes, sizes, and forms. Award winners, which includes nominees, must be chosen on the greatness of their talent ALONE.
I am sure I am speaking for a multitude of Cinema lovers all over the world when I speak of the following sentiments that this medium of art has blessed me with. Cinema taught me about our world, at times in English and at times through the beautiful one-inch bar of subtitles. I learned from the stories in the global movies that we are all alike across all borders. Remember that one of the best symbols of many great civilizations and their prosperity has been the art they have left behind. This art can be in the form of paintings, sculptures, architecture, writings, inventions, etc. For our modern society, Cinema happens to be one of them. Cinema is more than just a form of entertainment, it is an integral part of society. I love the world uniting, be it for Cinema, TV, media, art, fashion, sport, etc. Please keep this going full speed.”
Abigail Whitehurst is an entertainment professional and writer for Hollywood Insider based in Los Angeles, CA. Having lived all over the world as part of a military family and having pursued a bachelors of music, she brings a unique outlook to the entertainment industry. A life-long learner and researcher, Abigail is pursuing her masters in entertainment management. She strives to write through the lenses of context, analysis, and Hollywood Insider’s values to bring a fresh perspective to industry trends, entertainment business, and new film and TV releases. Her favorite place is a movie theater, and she’s always hunting for the deeper meaning and studying media as it pertains to culture. Film, TV, and interactive media are some of the most impactful artforms of our day, and they are worth digging into and analyzing. Everything is connected, whether it’s through Bacon numbers or history. When she’s not writing or at the movies, you can find Abbie crocheting or playing video games with her partner.
Abigail Whitehurst is an entertainment professional and writer for Hollywood Insider based in Los Angeles, CA. Having lived all over the world as part of a military family and having pursued a bachelors of music, she brings a unique outlook to the entertainment industry. A life-long learner and researcher, Abigail is pursuing her masters in entertainment management. She strives to write through the lenses of context, analysis, and Hollywood Insider’s values to bring a fresh perspective to industry trends, entertainment business, and new film and TV releases. Her favorite place is a movie theater, and she’s always hunting for the deeper meaning and studying media as it pertains to culture. Film, TV, and interactive media are some of the most impactful artforms of our day, and they are worth digging into and analyzing. Everything is connected, whether it’s through Bacon numbers or history. When she’s not writing or at the movies, you can find Abbie crocheting or playing video games with her partner.
Abigail Whitehurst is an entertainment professional and writer for Hollywood Insider based in Los Angeles, CA. Having lived all over the world as part of a military family and having pursued a bachelors of music, she brings a unique outlook to the entertainment industry. A life-long learner and researcher, Abigail is pursuing her masters in entertainment management. She strives to write through the lenses of context, analysis, and Hollywood Insider’s values to bring a fresh perspective to industry trends, entertainment business, and new film and TV releases. Her favorite place is a movie theater, and she’s always hunting for the deeper meaning and studying media as it pertains to culture. Film, TV, and interactive media are some of the most impactful artforms of our day, and they are worth digging into and analyzing. Everything is connected, whether it’s through Bacon numbers or history. When she’s not writing or at the movies, you can find Abbie crocheting or playing video games with her partner.
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